In the small, close-knit community of Waterloo, South Carolina, a long-simmering feud between neighbors erupted into deadly violence on April 8, 2014, leaving 51-year-old Harold D. Price dead. On that Tuesday, police were dispatched to Cochise Drive after receiving a call about a dispute. They arrived to find Price lying lifeless next to his lawnmower, having been shot three times in the back.
The investigation quickly zeroed in on his neighbor, Johnny Lamar Lever, as the suspected
shooter. Friends and family of both men informed investigators that a 'Hatfield-McCoy-type feud' had been ongoing between them for some time. The animosity was reportedly fueled by allegations that Price had been flirting with Lever's sister. This long-standing conflict had resulted in numerous arguments and altercations that were often reported to the police.
On the day of the fatal encounter, the two men had another altercation while Price was mowing his lawn. According to Lever's account, Price threatened to kill him and then started walking back toward his own house, leading Lever to believe he was going to retrieve a gun. In what he claimed was a preemptive act, Lever armed himself with a pistol and shot Price three times in the back, killing him at the scene.
Johnny Lamar Lever was arrested and charged with murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime. His first trial ended in a mistrial in April of the same year, as the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict. However, a second trial found Lever guilty on both charges. The court learned that this was not the first time Lever had killed a neighbor; three years prior, he had shot and killed another man, Samuel Thomas, in a dispute over a dog, but that incident was ruled to be self-defense. Taking his history and the circumstances of Price's death into account, the judge sentenced Johnny Lamar Lever to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
